Rathfarnham rectory surrounded by parkland for €1m

Set in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains, just within the city limits side of the M50, in a verdant part of Rathfarnham, the Vicarage is a 1965-built detached residence, constructed for the incoming rector and his family.

Set on 0.9 of an acre the property borders the ninth hole of Grange Golf Club, one of the best parkland courses in the capital.

Bounding the course is Marlay Park, a vast green space of 300 acres where there are weekend food markets, summer concerts and a Regency walled garden to explore.

In the 18th and 19th centuries this part of the city was where its merchant class built its country homes. Examples include Loreto Abbey, built as the stately home of William Pallister in 1725 before being purchased by the Loreto order in 1821. It was from here that Gonxha Agnes, the woman who would become St Teresa of Calcutta, travelled to India to work as a teacher in the order’s school.

Another, originally known as the Hermitage, is where Pádraig Pearse established St Enda’s School, which is now a museum within St Enda’s Park, just across the road from Marlay.

DNG is seeking €1 million for the Vicarage and while it seems ripe for development it is zoned as open ground so more to appeal to a family buyer.

As it stands the house extends to about 232sq m (2,497sq ft) and has a Ber of E, which the next owner will want to improve on.

The layout of the house is smart with plenty of space downstairs. Radiating off the large hall are a kitchen, sitting room, living room and family room, but these will need some reconfiguration to give that big open plan kitchen that is the nerve centre of most modern homes. There is plenty of scope to enlarge the current kitchen. It already leads through to a breakfast room but beyond it is a study, store room and large garage all crying out to be integrated into a large, bright space.

Upstairs there are four double bedrooms and a bathroom. There are views of the ninth hole from the back bedrooms.

In terms of enlarging the property there are all sorts of options available to the next owner, depending on their budget. One option, subject to planning, is to add a roof terrace that would give golf fans a front-row view of the fairways.

The house adjoins the Moravian cemetery, which was in use from the mid-18th century to the early 20th century, and in which an avenue of cherry trees flank the central pathway, with males buried on one side and females on the other.